


Small Mercies

by Quiet_crash



Series: Idols of Alagaesia [9]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Dragon!Chanyeol, Dragon!Jongdae, Dragon!Sehun, Gen, Rider!Baekhyun, Rider!Luhan, Rider!Minseok, Rider!Suho, dragon!kris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 04:31:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11821299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiet_crash/pseuds/Quiet_crash
Summary: The dragon told him from personal experience that, though rarely, such anomalies happened from time to time but “just you wait, he'll grow into his attitude before you know it”.





	Small Mercies

Luhan adored Sehun.

 

It was a given, considering whatever force made the dragons hatch only for their perfect rider, but Luhan had even more reasons than that. Sehun's hatching was the start of a new life for Luhan. The moment the graphite-grey eggshell burst to let Sehun out into the world and Luhan's waiting arms, was also the moment Luhan was freed from the manacles of his birthright of a prince at the elven court.

 

He has always hated his position and all the formalities it forced him into. The elven reticence was nowhere as much present as at the palace in Ellesmera. He had to watch his words every second of every day because whatever he said had to be polite enough to not offend but also straightforward enough to not be misinterpreted.

 

Likewise whatever he heard he needed to carefully consider from every angle to make sure he responded in the right way.

 

Some elves delighted in those games, in stretching the limits that Ancient Language forced upon them. Luhan did not. At least not to the level of the dignitaries that surrounded him everywhere in Ellesmera. He despaired over his fate because though technically not _forced_ to inherit the throne (and thank the higher powers for that), he was still treated like a prince and performed princely duties.

 

His only joy in life was training, in which his friend Minseok assisted him. Sometimes they did swordfighting, sometimes it was Ringmar, sometimes magic and sometimes they even forewent exercising and did something fun, just because, to escape the weight of their respective responsibilities.

 

And then Minseok said he was resigning as a palace guard and trying for a Dragon Rider.

 

And then he left and Luhan was alone at the palace, not particularly sure if exchanging the cage of the palace for the cage of Head Dragon Rider's iron fist was in any way appealing, even if (and it was always an if) he was lucky enough to have a dragon hatch for him.

 

But soon enough Minseok contacted him again and told him all about the life on Vroengard and how the Order changed from what it was like under Leader Dælan to now, with Junmyeon at the helm.

 

It sounded more and more promising, even with how long Minseok waited for a dragon to hatch for him, until he called Luhan for the last time with Jongdae in his arms, squirming and squeaking all over the place, trying to crawl through the mirror to where he could see Luhan but not smell him, all adorably confused.

 

Minseok's narration of the bond had him sold. In a few weeks he was out of Ellesmera and being welcomed into Doru Areaba by Head Dragon Rider Junmyeon (first impression – regal but motherly) and his dragon co-leader Yifan (first impression – terrifying), and after that shown around by Minseok who happily took him all around the city, Jongdae strutting beside him and adding his own commentary from time to time, in that perfect age of almost two months when he was still not very big but already quite smart.

 

Again a few weeks passed in which Luhan grew acclimated to the ways of Dragon Riders, feeling as if he could really breathe for the first time in his life. Noone trailed after him to suck up to him, noone nagged at him to mind the etiquette, noone tried to play mind games with him. Hardly anyone even used his title. Luhan introduced himself as simply Luhan and that's what he was to all those people. Some elves recognized him, sure, but they also had enough sense to realize that there was a reason why he said “Nice to meet you, I am Luhan” and why he left the palace in the first place. The simple fact he was on Vroengard not as a diplomat said it all.

 

Luhan just wanted to be Luhan, not Prince.

 

And then Sehun hatched and it had been the best day of Luhan's long life.

 

He still had a shard of the graphite shell, dark grey but sparkling subtly with the slightest amount of light thrown upon it. He shaped it himself into a tiny charm and wore it on his wrist, threaded into a bracelet.

 

He just really loved his dragon.

 

Which explained perfectly why three months after the joyous hatching he was worried out of his mind.

 

“Sehunnie, would you eat something? You need to grow!” Luhan pleaded. His baby dragon blinked at him, then at the offering of meat, as if considering graciously accepting it. Finally, he grabbed a few pieces lazily and ignored the rest, to Luhan's endless worry, crawling inside the elf's tunic and curling up on his stomach.

 

_You worry too much, Luhan._

 

“I most definitely do not. You are almost three months old and you're still barely bigger than a house cat.”

 

 _I like being this size_ , Sehun flicked the end of his tail contentedly. _It's very convenient. But don't worry, I'll start growing sometime._

 

“Why are you so completely unconcerned?” Luhan moaned despairingly, dragging the miniscule menace out from his hiding place and arranging him on his lap more comfortably. He did not relish the hard scales digging into the skin of his stomach.

 

 _Because I can feel that there's nothing to worry about. Stop fretting. You're surprisingly easy to discomfit considering you_ _grew up_ _a prince._ Sehun wiggled before settling, nudging Luhan's hand for a petting.

 

Luhan complied, hand automatically stroking along the spine hidden under a hard layer of graphite scales, a smile creeping on his face at the sound of Sehun's purrs.

 

–

 

It was not the first, nor the last time they had that conversation. Sehun continued to barely grow and Luhan continued to worry. He took his dragon to Yixing, the resident healing master, only to hear that he should listen to Sehun because neither physically nor magically were there any complications. He was just growing slowly.

 

The same thing he heard from an Eldunari he was directed to. The dragon told him from personal experience that, though rarely, such anomalies happened from time to time but “just you wait, he'll grow into his attitude before you know it”.

 

The only people who took his worries to heart were the Leaders. He thanked the gods for Junmyeon and Yifan every day; it was because of Junmyeon's leadership that he decided to join the Riders instead of losing his mind at the palace.

 

Now, both the human and the dragon Leader listened to him very attentively and arranged a special training regimen that would suit his and Sehun's unique situation. It was mostly Luhan practising magic and Sehun polishing his hunting skills and building up muscles and stamina.

 

Sometime around the seventh month of his life Sehun finally grew enough to take his rider flying. Luhan, by no means a small man, worried incessantly but Sehun snarled in exasperation and told him to hurry up or he'd take him up in his claws instead of the saddle, whichever he preferred.

 

Once in the air Sehun pulled Luhan's mind into his own to show him what it was like to really fly and that his rider's weight was not bothering him at all. Intense smugness radiated from him for the entire day after he felt Luhan's awe.

 

Still, he was small for his age. Especially next to Yifan's towering form, and to the equally huge Chanyeol, who also trained under the Leaders with his rider Baekhyun, a human orphan. Junmyeon, the bleeding heart, took him under his wing while Yifan focused on Chanyeol, happy to have someone so close to himself in body build. Both were massive, strong and bulky compared to Sehun and Jongdae's more lithe body type. Jongdae and his rider Minseok were the first adepts the Leaders trained, much more advanced in their training.

 

All three elder dragons were quite a bit older than Sehun. Next to them he looked like a hatchling. Instead of being jealous, however, Sehun milked the situation for all it was worth. Jongdae, Minseok, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were friendly and open and there was an easy friendship between them, with Sehun as the youngest and therefore most precious and fragile, an opinion that was only made stronger by his youthful appearance. They treated him like their baby brother and tended to spoil him a little. The Leaders doted on him. Even Yifan. Especially Junmyeon. Junmyeon sometimes took his protective mothering too far and started babying him though, which Sehun hated. Pampering yes, babying no.

 

Fortunately Yifan was always there to remind his Rider that Sehun was a dragon, not a delicate instrument.

 

(Although he had his moments of protectiveness too.

 

 _Yifan-elda, I understand Luhan but I thought you'd treat me like a normal dragon,_ Sehun barely suppressed a whine to go with those words as he looked up at his mentor. Yifan did the dragon version of a shrug.

 

_The wind is strong from the sea right now, I wasn't sure if your chicken wings could take it._

 

Sehun bristled and threw himself off the cliff, to Yifan's endless amusement and slight admiration because despite the harsh wind the little dragon did manage to perform most of the exercises in a rather good form.

 

Later on saw Yifan getting scolded by Junmyeon while Sehun, dignity intact and point proven, managed to settle into Luhan's arms and postpone his whining until they reached home. And then:

 

_LUHAN. LUHAN MASSAGE ME. IT HURTS._

 

Luhan sighed and got to massaging.)

 

Such was life up until a week and a half before Sehun's first birthday.

 

That morning Luhan was woken up by Sehun's insistent mental nudging and an uncomfortable heat all around him. When he opened his eyes the sight that greeted him was his bed surrounded by dark flames.

 

Screeching like a fanghur, Luhan jumped out of the bed, tripping and crashing to the floor. The painful landing woke him enough to remind him that he was an elf and a rider, he had magic at his disposal.

 

Quickly extinguishing the fire with a few choice words in the Ancient Language he started inspecting the damage, when Sehun landed on the bed in front of him, bouncing and flapping his wings.

 

 _Did you see that, Luhan? I breathed fire!_ he crowed, delighted.

 

 _You almost burned me alive!_ Luhan bit back but a grin broke out on his face nonetheless, his own happiness adding to Sehun's own.

 

 _Don't be so dramatic, I woke you up as soon as it happened,_ the dragon sniffed indignantly. _Also, I'm hungry._

 

 _Then lets get you something fancy to eat and celebrate,_ Luhan grinned, catching Sehun's head in his hands and pressing his forehead to Sehun's own, affectionately.

 

(“Why did you have to attack my bed though?” Luhan asked plaintively staring at the charred wood.

 

Sehun declined to answer though it was rather redundant, seeing as he was currently in the process of dragging the mattress and blankets from Luhan's ruined bed into his own sleeping space.

 

Luhan snorted but did not buy a new bedframe.)

 

–

 

Suddenly, there was a change. Sehun was always hungry, spending most of his time hunting. And if he wasn't hunting then he was sleeping or complaining of muscle pains.

 

Yes, Sehun was growing.

 

His first birthday came and he was already four meters longer. In a month he caught up, reaching the standard size for his age and the rapid growth spurt finally ended, his body regulating to grow in a normal tempo from then on.

 

Luhan was very grateful for it. The intense growing Sehun went through hadn't been easy on him and Luhan had had the front row seat to all the struggles his dragon faced. He tried to alleviate them, offering massages and scratches, even helping him hunt, but in the end Sehun had to suffer through it and they were both glad it was over.

 

Jongdae was also very glad. _How come you're so much younger than me and you're already longer? It's not fair! Chanyeol is a giant, you're a giant, why does the universe hate me!?_ he whined petulantly, causing Sehun to preen and Minseok to laugh at him fondly and say “Well I like your size. I think it's perfect”, earning himself a nuzzle from his disgruntled partner.

 

Sehun liked to say they were all disgustingly cute with each other. Jongdae's favourite pastime was nuzzling his Rider. Minseok was sweet with everyone (unless he let his snarky side out) but he had this game of trying to hug his dragon around the chest, it looked only more funny and endearing the larger Jongdae grew. Baekhyun delighted in little touches – a scratch here, a pat there, an obnoxious smooch pressed to the conveniently lowered snout. Chanyeol learned to blow hot air at his Rider, mussing his hair and warming him up (it had to do in place of the headbuts that had worked when he was little but ended up with Baekhyun faceplanting into the ground when Chanyeol grew up and up and up). Only Junmyeon and Yifan were old enough and comfortable enough to not be all over one another though sometimes they could still give the others a run for their money.

 

Sehun told Luhan all that with an air of utter disgust, his head comfortably nestled in Luhan's lap, growling any time Luhan slacked off with scratching at his jaw.

 

Luhan wisely did not even think of reminding Sehun of the meaning of the word 'hypocrisy'.

 

Besides, he himself was guilty of being disgustingly cute too. He didn't know any other Rider who collected as many fairths of his dragon as a hatchling as he did.

 

Can anyone blame him though? Sehun was adorable and pocket-sized for far too long not to take advantage and who could resist a tiny dragon lost in a discarded cloak? Certainly not Luhan, and so the image of Sehun's little head completely dwarfed by the hood he finally located after ten straight minutes of struggling is to this day Luhan's very favourite in the collection.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my, it seems that the introduction stories are over with.
> 
> Or are they?
> 
> I was thinking of adding VIXX to this AU but I haven't been in the fandom long enough to feel confident writing for them yet. Let me know if you'd be interested in it, anyhow.
> 
> Now, I'm working on a longer story for this 'verse, have a few ideas and all, but it might take a while before it's up. First of all I'm going to admit I screwed up with my law majors and I have three exams to retake (thank gods at least English Philology went off without a hitch) and also I've signed up for another Japanese intense course and also my sister's getting married all before the next schoolyear starts so. So I guess I'm going to be busy until next summer smh.
> 
> Anyways all my problems aside, hearing from you always makes me feel better and more motivated so if you could leave me a few words that'd be nice, I guess.
> 
> *slinks away into the dark pit of despair from which i came*


End file.
